ANDREA WALTERS | staff writer
This past week, the Cougar baseball team started a new season. The team demonstrated expertise and gave their fans much to look forward to for the coming games.
“This season we expect to play good baseball against great teams,” Head Coach Paul Svagdis said.
On January 29, the team defeated Patten 24-1, in game one of a doubleheader.
The next day, January 30, the Cougars once again played Patten and beat the Lions 19-1, in yet another doubleheader.
Their second opponents for the day were the Simpson Red Hawks, resulting in a 14-3 win for the Cougars.
With such high scores so early in the season, fans will be curious to see what more the team can do.
The Cougars had another high-scoring win on Monday, February 2 against Dixie State (Utah) with a score of 12-8.
“We are taking it one game at a time. We are sticking to our plan,” senior outfielder Eddie Crespo said.
Players on the team attributed the high scores to the teamwork.
“We are taking care of the process and sticking together. There is not too much pressure and we are just playing together well,” junior shortstop Todd Stiles said.
The Cougars were hitting the ball at bat, getting on base and scoring some runs.
While on the field the players were staying aware of where the ball was and getting outs.
“We implement what coach [Svagdis] tells us and put everything together. Everyone gets the hits,” junior third baseman Ryan Delgado said.
The team is keeping their high scores and working together as a team should. They listen to their coaches as well as to each other.
The Cougars are going strong with a record of 5-0, before playing Dixie State on Tuesday, February 3.
“Our offense is doing good and we are continuing to work on the plan. We are going inning by inning,” Svagdis said.
The season has just begun and already the Cougars are showing their fans just how well they can play ball.
“There are times where we struggle mentally [during the games] but physically we take care of everything,” Stiles said. “Several players on this team have the mindset of “taking it one game at a time.”
The end goal is to win a National Championship, but they plan on doing that by thinking of their games one by one.
“We feel comfortable with each other. We are taking this season game by game and keeping our head on our shoulders,” Delgado said.
Two players from last year’s roster in their junior year, were selected in the 2008 MLB (Major League Baseball) draft.
Center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis and pitcher Johnny Bravo were drafted.
Nieuwenhuis was taken in the third round, the 100th overall pick taken by the New York Mets. Bravo was taken in the 23rd round, the 695th overall pick by the St. Louis Cardinals.
The coach said that these two players left them with hope and encouragement.
Both drafted players left a positive impression on the guys because they all worked so hard together.
“They [Nieuwenhuis and Bravo] have affected us in a positive way. We miss them tons as well as we miss those who graduated. Their success has our guys being seen by other scouts,” Svagdis said.
The Cougars will play their next home game on Monday, February 9 against Whittier College.
